Choosing the best online shopping platform for your products

With the advent of the internet, the manner by which we do business have been exchanged from face-to-face transactions to the ease of doing business online. We found online transactions to be more appealing, easy, and convenient. What’s more is that it also saves everyone’s time and the effort to actually be in the physical store at the time of the purchase.

The benefits of having an online store have been exemplary in many ways that most businesses now have them; even organizations connected to the fashion industry have jumped into the bandwagon. In fact, almost all fashion brands and designers have online stores that display creations online. Not only will having an online store make everything easy for both the seller and the buyer, having one could also expand a fashion brand’s exposure to a wider set of audience.

Now, as a fashion designer and business owner, you may have one concern. That concern could be whether you choose to have a pre-built online platform or you hire a web developer to build one for you.

The eCommerce platform is a very huge industry. Browsing online would give you thousands of options. While there would be options that looks easy to navigate, this could sometimes lack something you are looking for; the something of which will be found in another platform. And while that other platform may look like they have everything, either that is too expensive for your budget to take or it is just too complicated to manage.

We understand your predicament in choosing your online shopping platform and so we have rounded up a list of things you should consider when getting one. Read on:

• One of the first things to think about is the size of your stock. When browsing through the many store platforms online, always remember one important thing – and that is that when choosing which one to use, you have to look for the cheapest rates that covers the services/products you have. Common considerations would be on the rates you pay for the platform versus the kinds of items you sell. Some platforms have a set rate for just two kinds of items while some platforms can save you bucks but would require you to sell a certain number of products.
• Another factor to consider is if you have digital or physical products. It is always a make or break since when you have physical products like the latest fashion trends, you may want to consider shipping costs, etc. When looking for platforms for an online store, always consider those that address your product needs.
• How do you pay and what do you use as your payment processor? These things should also be looked into when choosing an online shopping platform. Most may be using PayPal as it is the most widely used but also consider what you have, whether it’s a card or whatever payment method you prefer. Take note that some platforms may not accept 3rd party processors, which is a bum!
• As earlier mentioned at the start, you can also consider looking at an expert to do the website for you or get a ready-made online shopping platform that suits your needs. There would of course be advantages and disadvantages but try to consider what works well for your products and your fashion business before deciding.
• There would also be platforms that takes a small percentage of your sales as part of the payment scheme. Look into the kind of business you have. If the sales percentage does not bother you one bit, go ahead; but if you would prefer to pay a set monthly amount, this is something you need to consider as well. Think about what payment scheme can give you more profit from the sales.

To sum it all up, all major eCommerce platforms have their pros and cons. And while strengths and weaknesses all become useful in choosing a platform for your fashion business, none would usually have a “fit all” capability. You just need to make do with something that addresses most of those that you prioritize.